It won’t remain just a dream

Creativity and fantasy to make a dream come true are being put into practice by the many young people who in the past months have been looking forward to the World Youth Day to be held in Sydney July 15-20. It will be a long and expensive trip. A series of initiatives are currently under way to collect funds for those who cannot afford the expense. England. Some thirty young people from the dioceses of England and Wales are being trained as press officers for relations with the media during the World Youth Day. Fifteen recently spent a week-end in Liverpool where they were taught to write a press release, make a podcast and use a video camera. They also learned how to make an interview. The mini-course in journalism was set up by the press office of the Catholic Church of England Wales, by the evangelisation agency “CASE”, by the “Catholic Youth Service”, by the service of Youth Pastoral Care and by the office for the promotion of vocation in cooperation with the archbishop of Liverpool, Patrick Kelly. During the two days, the youth discusse communicators’ role in the context of evangelization. Colm Cahill from Jersey island, in the English Channel, declared: “The course has given me useful information and inspired me to do more to evangelise today’s youth. I can’t wait to go to Australia and put into practice what I have learnt”. Another preparatory week-end will be organized in London at the end of May. Over thirteen dioceses will be sending young press officers to Sydney. Portugal. The national Council for Youth Pastoral Care is presently organizing activities for the Fatima Jovem meeting, to be held May 3-4. It is intended to be an important and major moment of reflection and preparation on the topic of Sydney’s 2008 WYD: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (Acts, 1, 8). Until now 86 Portuguese youth have registered for the WYD: 47 from 8 dioceses sent their requests through the National Department for Youth Pastoral Care (Dnpj), while 21 did so through the diocese of Oporto. The remaining 18 sent in their adhesion through the patriarchate of Lisbon. However, according to the latest data, a group of 150 people will be leaving led by bishops Antonino Dias and Joachim Mendes. The director of Dnpj, father Vasco Pedrinho , declared that “compared to Paris, Cologne or Rome, the high cost of the trip is certainly the main reason for the low number of registrations, considering also that in mid-July many students are still studying for their exams”. Those who will be staying home will be able to follow the WYD entirely through various media sources like the radio, television, newspapers and especially through the internet”. Analysing the overall situation of Portuguese youth, father Vasco Pedrinho also recognized “a certain detachment from the Church. The youth need to be encouraged, and while the Christian language and message are still topical, their form and transmission methods must certainly adapt to the new realities in order to be fully effective. From this perspective the WYD is an effective tool for the evangelisation of the youth”. Belgium. “There are just few places still left, but there are no sales”. This is the straightforward appeal of the service for Youth Pastoral Care of the Catholic Church in Belgium issued on the homepage of the website created purposely to promote adhesions to the WYD. The departure of Belgium’s participants – whose precise number will be known once registration is closed – is scheduled for July 4 with return on the 21st. The youth leaving for Sydney will spend 2000 euro. In order to meet their economic needs the staff developed a series of initiatives like the sale of gadgets, in particular a small stuffed cangaroo. It will be sold at 5 euros, half of which goes to the young seller. In order to encourage stay in Australia, Belgium’s program envisages also the visit at the national Blue Mountains park. The youth will be staying in Katoomba, the main site of the park.